Moa Technology has been awarded over £900,000 of funding through the Defra Farming Innovation Investor Partnership (FIIP) programme to develop new novel modes of action to overcome resistant grassweeds.
Moa has built on breakthrough research from Oxford University to successfully identify multiple novel herbicidal modes of action capable of breaking weed resistance, several of which have already shown excellent and consistent performance in five seasons of English and international field trials. Unchecked, spreading blackgrass resistance could cost UK agriculture £1 billion annually according to Rothamsted Research.
Among the products being investigated is new post-emergent herbicide showing strong efficacy on English blackgrass in cereal crops in glasshouse and field trials. The new Defra funding, which has been matched by nearly two million pounds of investment from Oxford Science Enterprises, a private sector investor, will help accelerate these advanced programmes towards commercialisation, creating a portfolio of new tools for farmers which are effective, safe, affordable and sustainable.
Farming Minister Stephen Morgan said: “Blackgrass is one of the toughest challenges facing our arable farmers, reducing yields and making it harder to grow crops. That’s why we’re backing Moa Technology’s work through our Farming Innovation Investor Partnership to develop new herbicides to tackle it, alongside increasing farming innovation funding to £123 million this year.
“By investing in innovation and backing the brilliant researchers and businesses developing solutions for farmers, we’re helping to build a more productive, sustainable and resilient farming sector for the future.”
